We set up the MSF Access Campaign in 1999 to push for access to, and the development of, life-saving and life-prolonging medicines, diagnostic tests and vaccines for people in our programmes and beyond.

Based in Brussels, MSF Analysis intends to stimulate reflection and debate on humanitarian topics organised around the themes of migration, refugees, aid access, health policy and the environment in which aid operates.

Our medical guidelines are based on scientific data collected from MSF’s experiences, the World Health Organization (WHO), other renowned international medical institutions, and medical and scientific journals.

Evaluation Units have been established in Vienna, Stockholm, and Paris, assessing the potential and limitations of medical humanitarian action, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of our medical humanitarian work.

Providing epidemiological expertise to underpin our operations, conducting research and training to support our goal of providing medical aid in areas where people are affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or excluded from health care.

A collaborative, patients’ needs-driven, non-profit drug research and development organisation that is developing new treatments for neglected diseases, founded in 2003 by seven organisations from around the world.

Kinshasa/Bunia, 20 December 2012 – A measles epidemic is spreading throughout Orientale Province, Democratic Republic of Congo. Since early October, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has treated more than 12,700 patients and vaccinated more than 226,000 in several areas affected by the illness. MSF is continuing to vaccinate, but given the breadth of the epidemic, the medical humanitarian organisation is in a race against time to provide free medical care and reduce mortality.

“This measles epidemic follows a sharp and particularly deadly increase in malaria among young children this year, “says Dr Narcisse Wega, MSF emergency coordinator. “Here, too, the disease is spreading rapidly in the province and affects primarily children under five years of age. We are facing a continuing series of epidemics that has overwhelmed the health system. The health authorities are experiencing staff shortages and frequent stock-outs of medicine and cannot address this epidemic on their own.”

Against the backdrop of this “healthcare desert,” on 5 October, MSF began sending medical teams to the Yambuku, Yalibombo, Yaleko and Yahuma health zones. The teams have treated 10,764 measles patients and vaccinated more than 226,080 children between the ages of six months and 15 years. More than 76,460 children remain to be vaccinated in Yahuma.

In November, MSF deployed additional teams to the Buta and Ganga-Dingila health zones, where more than 2,000 patients have already been treated. Mass vaccination campaigns began on 17 December and will continue in January, targeting approximately 130,000 children between six months and 15 years. Teams are also working in Niapu, in the Poko health zone, and are launching activities in Titulé.

With some 20 health zones affected by measles in Orientale Province, MSF faces huge challenges – primarily logistical – in reaching the most isolated communities and making treatment available as quickly as possible. “We are mobilising all the resources at our disposal to expand our activities into the affected areas, but the province and the needs are huge and we may soon reach the limits of our capacities,” Dr Wega notes. “We can’t deal with this province-wide epidemic alone.”

Measles is an extremely contagious illness. If not treated in time, it may result in serious medical complications and the death of between 1 per cent and 15 per cent of the children affected.

December 2012 : a measles epidemic prevails in the Eastern Province of Democratic Republic of Congo: since the beginning of October, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) cared for over 12,700 patients and vaccinated more than 226,000 children in several affected areas. MSF continues its interventions, but to tackle the extent of the epidemic, the organization launched out in a true race against time to ensure free medical care for the patients and reduce mortality.Elise Odiekila/MSFShare

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